India: 30-plus starlets seek to invert Bollywood tradition

A handful of 30-something starlets — and a couple nearing 50 — are hoping to reverse one of Bollywood's oldest traditions: The "hero" can play a college student well into his 60s, but a woman's career is over when she crosses the big 3-0 or (gasp!) gets married.

Here's the shortlist, courtesy of India's Mail Today newspaper. 

Rani Mukherji, 34, is appearing for the first time since playing a non-glam role in "No One Killed Jessica" in 2011 with a film called Aiyyaa. Never mind her ethnic background (she's Bengali), Mukherji plays a young girl looking for the perfect south Indian man in what sounds like a typical (doomed) Bollywood rom-com.

Preity Zinta, 37, not seen since a cameo in 2009, is returning in a self-produced rom-com called "Ishkq in Paris."

Manisha Koirala, 42, one of the top stars of the 1990s, is coming back in a horror flick called "Bhoot Returns."

Madhuri Dixit, 45, also huge in the 1990s, is trying another comeback with "Dedh Ishqiuya & Gulab," after a flop five years ago and several years rearing kids in anonymity in Colorado.

And Sridevi, 49, will appear in "English Vinglish."

Will any of them strike gold? Doubtful.

Who's the best looking of them all?  Sridevi, it appears from recent photos. But somewhere there's a painting of her that keeps getting older and older.